


Monster

by MetallicSharpie



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-30
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-15 01:04:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14148543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MetallicSharpie/pseuds/MetallicSharpie
Summary: Most children were afraid of the monster in their closet, but the silver-haired being never hurt her, never scared her - even after all these years.





	1. The first time we met.

Original Publish Date: 3/26/2018  
Minor Edits/Fixes: 3/28/2018  
More Fixing!: 4/16/2018

_**I will kill him**_   _ **for this**._

It was his first thought as he landed inside a small closet none too gracefully, his right hand clutching what was left of his other arm as blood seeped between his fingers and onto the carpeted floor. He paid no mind to the mess, the light would render it gone come sunrise. For now, he needed to replenish some of his energy if he wished to open a portal back home before then. When his sensitive ears caught the sound of two pounding hearts on the other side of the closet door, he smirked.  _Good._  His tumbling seemed to have frightened whoever lived here. He caught the muffled sound of two socked feet touching the floor, the heavy footfalls as they approached the closet door told him it was not a child and possibly male. If his nose wasn't clogged with the smell of his own blood, he would have been able to tell.

He frowned, human adults were not as easy to scare though he preferred it over scaring children, it was simply more satisfying. In his current state, however, it would prove to be difficult unless the human was -

"I-s is s-somethin'-" A hiccup, "-there?"

\- Intoxicated.  _Perfect._ There was nothing to worry over now. The man had yet to open the door but the fear leaking out of his weak aura was already providing him with a bit of strength.  _Come here._  He pushed over a box behind him with a minuscule pulse of power, letting its contents scatter. He heard the gasp, a curse, and the small step back. But the human continued, and just when the man's hand was inches away from the sliding closet door, he slammed it open, snarling at the smaller man. The frightened human fell onto his back, his breathing coming out in short pants and his eyes dilated with fear.

His energy reached out and engulfed the man, drinking the fear that yellowed his soul. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough and the human scrambled up to his unsteady feet and ran out the room before he finished feeding.  _No matter, there is another here…_  His glowing red gaze turned to the small hump in the twin bed, a single brown eye peeking at him from over the edge of the comforter. The girl's heart was no longer quick, her breathing was normal, she was not afraid. She lowered the blanket from her eyes to her lap as she sat up in her bed, her first words startled him, "You're hurt."

It made him glance down; the piece of bicep left was no longer draining blood like an open faucet, but still, it leaked, a puddle beginning to form under him and his clothing was soaked in deep red. The sight of so much blood should have frightened one so young easily - "It looks really bad…"  _Pity._   _Pity from a human child. Disgusting._ The girl didn't give him a chance to growl. "Who hurt you?"

He inexplicably felt compelled to answer. "Half-brother."

"Oh…" The pity in her face turned to understanding, "My step-brother hurts me too."

The confession left him unsettled. The girl shifted to the edge of her bed and patted the small empty spot beside her, "Sit. It'll hurt less." Now in the sliver of moonlight illuminating her, he could see why the other eye was shut. It was swollen. She was dirty. Her black hair was matted. Her skin was sickly pale. Her cheeks were sunken instead of full. Her clothing was disheveled. A different kind of disgust churned his stomach,  _What was the man in her room doing before I arrived?_

There was another reason why he no longer scared children. When a youkai goes out to hunt after sunset, they are drawn to the highest sources of fear and misery in the mortal realm. However higher youkai, like himself, preferred  _quality_  over quantity. The stronger mental fortitude the mortal had, the more power could be drawn from their fear should you break them. As a child up until his early teens, he had to feed on children only as he was too weak and inexperienced. Bouncing around inner cities and poor neighborhoods, he learned very quickly that humans were revolting beings. And even when he slipped into higher class areas where poverty could not be used an excuse, it was all the same. They beat, sell, molest, drug - anything - to their children. And he found later find those same children as adults, continuing the cycle of abuse.  _Humans are weak, despicable creatures._

Perhaps it was now he who felt pity for the girl as he accepted her invitation. The bed was not soft and the comforter underneath him was scratchy, but his body was thankful for the relief of standing. "Thank you." He blinked in shock, turning to look at the tiny girl next to him. She was hugging her knees to her chest, "For scaring him away."

"My intentions were also to frighten you."  _Were_ , he caught himself too late. Why did that change? What was he doing now? Healing was still a priority. He needed to feed again.

The girl wasn't fazed, "But you aren't." Frankly, he was surprised she understood him. The girl had to be around 8 or 9. She glanced at his clawed hand, up his shattered armor. "Are you one of those monsters…?" Her question was a whisper and her working eye didn't stray from his face.

"I am."

"... Do you have a name?"

"It is none of your business, girl." She was getting too comfortable. His tone was enough to simmer down her friendliness… for a moment.

"My name is Rin." She chirped, "Where do you come from?"

He slowly closed his eyes, deeply exhaling from his nose. There was no chance he was going to sit here and answer that loaded question. He had enough energy to jump to another house and scare some other fool but found himself not wanting to leave. He could still hear the man down the hall, in another bedroom most likely. He had yet to pass out. Would he return to the room? If he was no longer here, what would happen to the girl?  _It is none of my concern… but…_

He blamed it on pity one more time as he answered her first question, "Lord Sesshomaru."

Rin gasped, "You're a lord? Do you have a castle? Is it in the sky? And what about knights? And a pony? Two ponies? Do you fight bad guys? Do you have a Lady?" He raised a brow at the sudden flow of questions, had he not mentioned he was a 'monster' first and foremost? She seemed rather unconcerned about that. And what made her think he would answer all of that? She suddenly blinked, her face crestfallen as her gaze dropped to her lap, "Was that too much? Sorry."

Sesshomaru furrowed his brows, her sadden expression did not satisfy him in the slightest. He blamed pity a third time, "My father owns the castle. I do fight. I do not have a lady, and I do not have a  _pony_." He watched her expression lightened up as he answered her questions, only to drop a bit at the lack of ponies. He never understood the fascination most little girls had with ponies. He mentioned his alternative, "I do have a dragon."

The girl gave him the biggest smile he'd seen with missing teeth and all, her voice contained in excitement, "You have a dragon!?" He simply nodded, a bit dumbfounded by the extent of her happiness. "Where is it?" She looked up, "On the roof?"

He wasn't some demonic Santa Claus. Some of his exasperation seeped into his voice, "At the castle."

"Can I see it?"

_That_  was impossible, even if he was one to give into the girl's whim. No human was allowed into the demon realm, it was unsustainable for them. "No."

"You stopped bleeding." She mentioned, abruptly changing topics. He looked down at his marred arm, she was right. The bleeding stopped and the wound was closed… He frowned,  _The pain is gone._  He hadn't even realized. All that was left was a small ache in the lump.  _Impossible. I haven't eaten again. How…?_ He shouldn't have had enough energy to fully heal yet. "You're really strong…" The girl said in hushed awe before her hand went up to the swollen side of her face. He watched several emotions filter across her face before she looked up at him, smiling once more. "Maybe I can be strong too."

He felt a hot, prickling sensation down his spine. A warning - sunrise was approaching. He rose to his feet and walked to the center of the small room. His back was towards her but he was hyper-aware of the girl's eyes on him. He extended his hand in front of him, clawed fingers spread. "Will I see you again?" She was rather astute for her age. He looked at her from over his shoulder while the black portal formed, tearing the veil between the mortal world and his as it formed a path for him. It would be a breach of protocol. If you could not scare the human, you are  **never**  to return to them.

But much like his father, Sesshomaru didn't believe all the rules applied to him. "Perhaps." Was the most he could promise, stepping into his arcane realm just before the first ray of sunlight broke through the horizon.

**End of Chapter 1**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another fic. Don't kill me. This is also supposed to be not too long too, I swear it!
> 
> I'm also thinking of a much, much darker version of this fic but I wouldn't start on that until I'm done with this. 
> 
> Hope ya'll here like it! :D


	2. You scared him away.

Original Publish Date: 3/30/2018  
Minor Edits/Fixes: 4/16/2018

" **You're already healed**. Impressive…" The suspicious tone his father used betrayed his concerned expression. The older daiyoukai sighed, "But I wish you hadn't gotten hurt at all. Sesshomaru, why do you provoke your brother?"

"Half-brother."

Touga narrowed his eyes, "Watch your tone."

"Honey, where - oh my goodness!" Izayoi had rounded the corner into his father's study, exclaiming when her eyes landed on his tattered clothing and missing limb. "Sesshomaru, dear -" He barely could contain his sneer. "- what in the world happened to you?"  _Your son._  Was what he wished to say, but his father...

"I will take care of it." Touga replied instead, placing a quick kiss on the top of the woman's head, "Is everything almost ready?"

"Yes! All that's left is for all of us to change." She replied, giving the older daiyoukai what Sesshomaru considered a sickeningly sweet smile. If you gave the woman a quick glance, you'd think she was simply human... but they were home in the dark realm, somewhere between the border of life and death, a place where humans could not live. The former human had sold her soul to her father, making her a manufactured hanyou, unable to see the light of day in her native world again. According to Touga, the change hadn't brought on any negative side-effects yet in the past decade, but he was blinded by whatever infatuation he had with her.

His father never noticed when the woman was curled up in a bleak corner of the castle, muttering under her breath about things incomprehensible to anyone other than herself. Or when she ate and ate and ate, but couldn't find relief of her hunger with food while not having the power to feed off others emotion like full-blooded youkai. To her credit, she kept her raising problems with the change hidden well from Touga, but he couldn't help but wonder how long she could last until she snaps - and what would happen then?

His father's voice brought him out of his thoughts, "Lucky for you, I will excuse you from this ball tonight due to your condition." He blinked in shock, his father  **never** , in all the centuries that spanned his lifetime, allowed him to miss any social function. It appears that losing a limb was the secret. The couple left him then, no doubt to finish dressing up for the occasion. He decided to head up to his suite, a bath and a change of clothing was in order.

Once in his room, he unclasped the broken armor, letting it clatter loudly on the stone floor. His torn kimono soon joined it. He walked up to the large windows that spanned a wall in his room, giving him a view of the mountainous terrain not far below as the sunlight filtered through the glass. The sun in this world was a poor imitation. A mildly bright spot in the sky that gave a warm hue to everything as if they were in an old western. It didn't provide warmth, and it certainly didn't illuminate as much as the real sun did. He despised the fake light. He shut all the curtains and with a flick of his wrist, all the candles turned aflame. He would bathe and as he soaked - his thoughts should have been on how to extract revenge on his brother and prove to his father that Inuyasha wasn't worthy of Tessaiga, but instead, they strayed to the safety of a dirty human girl with a crooked smile.

Time flows differently for them compared to the humans. Being nearly immortal, it was easy to pay no mind to how many days or months passed. It certainly didn't help that seasons were nonexistent in their realm and someone of his caliber did not need to leave for feeding too often, every couple of weeks was sufficient to sustain his current power. When he noticed that fall seemed to be approaching again in the human world, he assumed it had been a year since he last saw the girl. Would he frighten her now? Or would she welcome him on sight?

There was only one way to find out.

His hand reached out as his youki searched for the light of her familiar soul. Once found, he stepped into the portal that opened and into an unfamiliar closet.  _A different home..._  He had essentially no time to react as the closet door swung open to reveal Rin smiling up at him, "You're back!"  _How did she already...?_  She then quickly covered her mouth, as if she hadn't meant to be so loud.

"RIN!" Another male, that was not the same voice from the year before.

"Stay here, then he won't hurt you." She shut the door on him before he heard her small feet hurry back to bed just as the bedroom door opened.  _Hurt me? Ridiculous._  The notion was nearly enough to roll his eyes if he were a lesser youkai. No one in this realm could hurt him no matter how hard they tried as true Mikos have been extinct for centuries. The bedroom door opened and slammed shut, the force quaked the walls enough to drop a few items on the floor.

"What are you doing still awake?" His eyes narrowed at the threatening tone of the male's voice. "Who were you talking to?"

"A monster." Her reply was the innocent truth but the man took it as a personal insult.

"The fuck did you say?" He could see through the tiny slits in the wooden closet door - a man about mid 40's in moderate shape, approaching the girl in the single-sized bed. "What did you call me!?" His eyes widened when the sound of the backhand connecting against her cheek echoed off the walls. Rage began to heat his blood as red flooded his vision,  _No._  The youkai closed his eyes. He had to calm down. If he - The metal sound of a belt buckle being undone and the man's next words - "Looks like you need another lesson."

The fear in his scream when he burst through the closet door in the smaller version of his true form had to have been one of the most satisfying he had ever caused. The grown man fell and tried to crawl away as he snapped and snarled, acid dripping from his canine mouth. His youki flared and surrounded the foul man's aura. It hooked deep into his soul, absorbing the fear into him as power. He was pushing too hard, too fast. The man couldn't move and his eyes began to roll back. If he kept going, the man would go insane. They were not to drive others mad on purpose. It would bring too much attention to them both.

With the last inkling of his rational mind still strong, he let go of the human's soul. Sesshomaru had enough for the week. The man scrambled backward into the door and ran out… If his hearing was correct, he ran out of the entire house.

"Lord Sesshomaru?" His red eyes shifted to her wide brown ones. Again, she wasn't afraid. Her eyes shone with wonder and awe instead. "You can turn into a dog!?" Rin rolled off the bed and slid onto her knees in front of him with that large smile, completely oblivious to the dangers of his acidic saliva or the rows of spiked teeth. Neither of those could harm her here, but she wasn't aware of that yet. "That's amazing! Can I…?" Her hand phased through his head. "Huh?" She looked at her hand, then him. She tried one more time, still unable to touch him. "Are you a ghost?"

He transformed back into his humanoid form, "No."

She got back on her feet, "Then why can I touch you?"

"I am not whole in this realm."

"Oh." Rin blinked. She tapped her index finger against her lips with a concentrated look on her face as she made her way back into her bed. "Then… Are you trying to make yourself whole?"

Sesshomaru tensed, "Why?"

She climbed into her bed in a sitting position, her pillow at her back as she leaned against the headboard, "If I wasn't whole, then I would try to be."

The girl accomplished something no other being was ever capable of - making him uncomfortable enough to change the subject. "This is not the same house."

Rin patted the empty half of the bed much like she did last time and he took her offer to sit once more. "It's a different foster home."  _Is she an orphan?_  Rin pulled her knees up and hugged them against her chest. "I was a little afraid that you wouldn't be able to find me again..."

"Most children don't want monsters to find them."

Rin giggled softly, smiling at him, "Most monsters try to scare kids, don't they?" She had him there. "Can you find me anywhere I go?"

"Yes."

Her eyes widened, "Wow…" Her gaze flickered behind him, "Do you always have to come out a closet?"

"Monsters live under the bed as well." Sesshomaru replied, watching her carefully. The redness on her cheek from where her guardian struck her was an angry red and no doubt painful for her, but she didn't cry, only kept on with what seemed to be an endless flow of questions.

"...Are there any pony monsters?"

He exhaled through his nose, " _Yes_."

Aren't children supposed to cry, especially human ones? Even he had shed some tears whenever his father struck him… but never in front of anyone. No, he waited until his family left or slept deeply and would wander into an empty, unused part of the castle to release his pain in peace and, most importantly, alone. He could never cry in front of his father, he refused to show his sire such weakness.  _Is that what she is waiting for?_  To be alone? Would she cry after he left?

"And kitties? Bunnies? Are there monsters like all the animals in the world?"

"Some…" To sate his curiosity, Sesshomaru decided to test her mental fortitude. As he absently answered more of her random questions, he let a few tendrils of youki free to painlessly poke and prod her head. He soon hit the barrier of her mind that subconsciously protected her soul from youkai like him, and it was stronger than most humans he had come across previously. He shrank back his energy, left with more questions than before. An average child's mind should be easy to pass, an abused child's mind should be a crumbling wall with too many cracks to be functional, but hers was an endless meadow, too bright for a soulless being like him to enter without major difficulty.

"Some stories say monsters eat people… do you?"

His sharp eyes narrowed at the question. Was it simply just a coincidence she asked right after he examined her defenses? "Not in the way you think." The vague answer should have left her unsettled, but it seemed nothing he said could shake her.

Rin started fidgeting when he rose from the bed, "You have to go already?"

Sunrise was still a couple of hours away. He did not need to leave yet but - his nose twitched when her scent spiked with fear. Her eyes were impossibly wide, peering up at him as if begging for him to stay a bit longer. He had finally frightened her, but with a threat of leaving, not harm. Her attachment to him was far too strong for it only being the second time they met. That was exactly why he needed to depart. Whatever the girl was looking for - a father, a brother or a friend - she won't find it in him. He was a youkai, she was human prey. She would get older, her belief in 'monsters' would wane until it was no more than random spasms of instinctual fear in the dark. It would never be anything more.

When the black portal ripped open, she asked as before, "Will I see you again?"

 _No._ Was what he wanted to say, a clear answer to shatter any childish hopes she may hold on to. Instead, "Do not wait for me." He walked through without so much as a glance back. He landed in the courtyard of his father's castle, feeling a bit… uneasy.

" _Then… Are you trying to make yourself whole?"_

Sesshomaru's jaw clenched. The girl knew nothing about the inner workings of his kind and his own ambitions, but off-handingly guessed part of them within minutes. His gaze swept across the bland garden with disdain, its dry, crumbling flowers and bushes another pale imitation to the colorful palette of the mortal world. He had grown tired of this place long ago. Despite teetering on the edge of non-existence, the majority of youkai were content to stay here in their own private realm and sustain their fading life force by being monsters in the night. He was not.

His hand clenched at his side, uncaring of the claws that dug into his palm. He could not lose focus. He would continue to feed, far surpass his father, and finally have the strength to live in the real world.

**End of Chapter 2**


	3. You left for a while.

Original Publish Date: 4/5/2018  
Minor Edits/Fixes: 4/16/2018

" **Tsukuyomaru is dead."**

Sesshomaru sat with his father in the study, only half-listening as he spoke. He hardly knew the bat daiyoukai, his only knowledge of him was he helped Inuyasha at one point to learn Red Tessaiga. "Killed by his own father." The older daiyoukai muttered as he poured him another glass of bourbon, "They say… he almost made it out." Now he had his full attention. "That's why Taigokumaru murdered him. He saw it as a betrayal to his clan and to all youkai kind. The old man later succumbed to his wounds and died himself."

"Then there is no one left to corroborate the story?"

"Apparently…" Touga shifted in his leather chair, "Princess Abi was around during the fight. She said that his father claimed Tsukuyomaru had a human love and a hanyou, much like Inuyasha. The two are nowhere to be found. Now,  _how_  or  _why_  his father thought he was about to escape this realm, who could say…?"

Sesshomaru took a drink of the aged liquor as he considered the tale.  _A way out._  The bat daiyoukai was significantly weaker than him… Could he have found some spell, an ancient relic? Would his woman know? He dismissed the thought as soon as it came,  _Taigokumaru was a paranoid fool_. It wasn't a stretch to believe he killed his son with no hard evidence. After all, there were no new hanyous living in the realm, Izayoi being the most recent addition. They would have noticed if his human lover sold her soul to be with him and conceive a child.

"You have quickly grown in power these past few years." His sire unexpectedly commented, "Should I watch my back?"

He raised a brow, "Your death does not interest me."

"I don't know whether to be relieved or offended." Touga downed the last of his drink before rising from his large chair. He put a hand on Sesshomaru's shoulder before he passed, "Your brother is joining us tonight. It would please me if you two would be civil with one another."

It took him a moment but he managed a "Yes, father."

Touga patted his shoulder in acknowledgment before leaving the room. Sesshomaru counted his few peaceful hours before sundown.

Everyone in the castle knew the moment Inuyasha arrived. Izayoi's pitched excitement, his father's booming voice, and the hanyou's matching as they greeted each other in the main hall. Sesshomaru watched from afar, having no desire to be a part of it. The less he spoke to the hanyou, the less likely they would fight and anger Touga -  _but_  if they didn't speak at all, it would also anger him. They were both aware of this. When the couple finally stopped fussing over his half-brother he took the quiet moment to walk over to them.

"Inuyasha." He coolly greeted, taking note that he listened to his mother for once and wore something other than his fire rat robe to the realm. It was a bit odd seeing him in a blazer, he could hardly recall the last time the hanyou wore one.

"Sesshomaru." The younger brother replied, before looking back at their father, "So, how long is this thing again?"

Touga glanced at them both knowingly, "You will stay until I say otherwise."

Inuyasha's shoulders slumped forward, mumbling under his breath as they all walked to the outer bailey, where food and drink were being passed and music was being played. It was the largest festival they held and  **all** attended without fail. It was their own version of a typical mid-autumn celebration, as the harvest moon only appeared about every 8 years in their realm. While the moon here meant nothing to them, the majority preferred having any reason at all to party and drink. Many youkai enjoyed the tastes of different foods and the intoxication that hard liquor brought, though they didn't need either for substance.

Touga, with his arm around Izayoi, left the two brothers, mentioning he will go give his condolences to the last of the bat youkai that remained. Inuyasha let out a large sigh once their sire was out of earshot, his expressive face openly irritated as his eyes scanned the mass of youkai mingling. "I hate these damn things."

"Hn." It was one of the few things they agreed on. Sesshomaru could concede that the hanyou had it marginally worse, his sensitive hearing already picking up all the whispers being passed about his presence. Inuyasha was an abnormality - a  _birthed_  hanyou that lived in the mortal realm but could pass into their own at any time. Only family knew that Inuyasha couldn't stay here for more than half a day at a time before he started fading away, something his sire and Izayoi learned the hard way while the hanyou grew.

Inuyasha was also "illegal" but no youkai here would dare challenge Touga about it, aside from a few snide comments from Ryūkotsusei and Shishinki.

Their eyes caught the empty barracks transformed to a temporary arena. "Is it  _really_  fighting if its a festival tournament?" It seemed they both had the same idea.

"Father would be ecstatic to see us enjoying the festivities together."

Unfortunately, neither knew how to fight without trying to kill each other. They started slow enough but only ten minutes into the match, their fighting grew more violent. They were unaware of the large crowd that began to form around them. The two of them dropped their sparring swords in favor of claws and punches. It wasn't much longer till the hanyou was bleeding profusely from his torso, Sesshomaru had cuts around his arm and midsection, and the crowd roaring with excitement. Had they been paying attention to their surroundings, they would have noticed when the people suddenly hushed.

Touga landed in the middle of the arena and pushed the two growling brothers off each other. "What is the meaning of this?!"

Inuyasha spat blood on to the dirt before replying, "Tournament."  _Not wise, brother…_ Father's snarl did not surprise him.

"Both of you, in my study.  **Now**. I will be there shortly."

The walk back to the castle was quiet with the exception of an occasional hiss of pain or curse from Inuyasha, each one making the corner of his lips quirk. It didn't go unnoticed by his brother. "You're a sadist, you know that?"

"And you seem to enjoy the pain I inflict on you." The hanyou was sputtering unintelligible obscenities now. Sesshomaru sighed, it seemed blood loss was getting to him. His father would not be pleased if he allowed his younger sibling to pass out in the hall. He pushed him in the direction of the infirmary, conveniently much closer than their father's study.

"Oi, where are we goin'?" He didn't have to answer, the hanyou soon caught on. "Pfft, you think you got me that good, huh? I don't need no damn healer." His tone escalated when he pushed him again and the hanyou tripped onto a futon, "Hey! What the hell?!" The daiyoukai left, leaving the irritable hanyou to the on-call doctor.

Sesshomaru ignored his own wounds, they would close up by the next afternoon and fully heal before the end of the day. He adjusted his navy blue blazer, attempting to ignore the stinging pain. His brother's attacks were more painful and always took longer to heal, a 'perk' of being family. It was… bothersome. He froze, standing just at the oak door of the study. A memory of an orphan girl and how his pains inexplicably vanished after a short conversation came to mind.

 _No, it's ludicrous._  The girl couldn't have anything to do with it... But  _had_  she, it would a good time to test. His father would still take a bit, even longer when he'd realize Inuyasha was with the healer. He would have enough time if he left at this moment. The daiyoukai swiftly searched for her soul and landed in yet another different closet. He had expected the closet door to open instantaneously like before and fumbled with an unfamiliar feeling when it did not.  _Has she forgotten?_  He told her to not wait around for him and three years is a long time for a human child.

An unsure voice called, "... Lord Sesshomaru…?"

"Yes."

The door swung open to reveal the grinning young teen with a full set of teeth and a room much more lively colored and furnished than her previous accommodations.  _She has not._  He thought with an unsettling kind of relief. It should not have mattered either way. "I can't believe you're he-" Rin gasped, her brows scrunching with worry, "You're hurt!" The girl attempted to grab his hand, only to latch onto nothing. "Oh. Right! Come here, please. Sit." She pointed to a light brown bean bag in the shape of a… cartoon bear.

As he sat on it, he briefly wondered how much his brother would laugh at how ridiculous he must have looked. Then he had noticed the girl hadn't stopped staring at him oddly. "Rin."

His voice took her out of her stupor and she suddenly smiled brightly, "That's the first time you've said my name."  _Was it?_ He hadn't realized. She moved to sit on the edge of her bed, across from him. "I'm sorry for staring, it's just I've always seen you wearing that armor and all. You look so different!" She glanced at his chest, where a few open cuts lingered, "Was it your brother again?"

"We were sparring."

"I thought you don't hurt your opponent when practicing." Rin said, frowning, "I don't like seeing you hurt."

"These are nothing. I am not human." Sesshomaru took note that she appeared to be thriving here compared to before. Her deep brown hair was shining, her skin was a healthy color and her weight was average. "You are in a different house again."

Rin smiled, "A permanent one. They don't pay too much attention, but they don't hurt me either. They really aren't so bad." Her gaze dropped to her lap, "You left for a while. I thought I wouldn't see you again." Her voice began to trail off, "I was starting to think I imagined you… or something…" Sadness. In her voice, in her eyes. He found himself looking away from her and couldn't place why. "But it's okay!" She suddenly blurted, catching his eyes again. "Because you came back." When she grinned, it was honest, "I'm so happy that you're here."

"Why?" He was essentially an apparition that appeared inconsistently in her life for no purpose. Scaring off her abusers only twice out of all the years she endured should not have meant much.

"Why?" She seemed surprised by his question, "You scared them away.  _Forever._ " That wasn't his intention, they are not meant to intervene in a human's life so much, but he couldn't say he wasn't pleased. "If you hadn't, I wouldn't have found here. And… I do have friends now too, I didn't before, but I still like talking to you more. The other monster wouldn't talk to me..."

His eyes narrowed, "Another monster?"

"I never got his name, but he was a lot smaller than you and had fox legs. A baby monster, maybe? He got scared when I said hi…"  _Shippou._ Youkai births were so rare that the whole realm knew about it when it occurred. Shippou was a fox youkai born only a decade ago who undoubtedly had trouble scaring anyone, as most of their kind can't conjure complex illusions until much later in life.

But there was an important lesson the girl had to learn here. "Do not speak to other monsters."

"Why?"

"They are dangerous and you are only a human girl." He shouldn't have come. She  _was_  going to forget, she admitted it, she was going to chalk him up as a figment of her imagination, born of her loneliness. Now her belief in his kind would persist into adulthood and any daiyoukai looking for a feast will be drawn to her light. His hand fisted,  _I made a mistake._

"I'll be okay." She didn't understand. "They can't hurt me."

"They will."

She gave him a small smile but it wasn't like her usual ones, "I've been hurt a lot. I'm not afraid." He didn't know what to say. Perhaps he was the one who didn't understand. "Your cuts are gone." He glanced down, she was right.  _It is not a coincidence then… but why? How?_ Again, he only found more questions than answers. "Do you have to go now?"

"Yes." Sesshomaru replied as he stood.

"Will I see you again?"

This time, he looked at Rin when he answered, "...Yes."

His return was met with an eerie silence. He had missed his father's visit to the study.  _Damn it._  His sire will not be happy with him. "Sesshomaru." He turned around to see Touga approaching him, his face unreadable. "It is not like you to disobey me so blatantly." His father stood 4-5 inches taller than him with broader shoulders, still able to tower him despite his growth in power. "Where did you run off -" He reached out and touched the healed skin that was visible through one of the larger cuts in his button-up shirt. "You are healed… again. How? You haven't fed, I can tell."

"I am not sure yet." Sesshomaru replied honestly. Anything less than the truth his sire's senses would catch.

"Where did you go?" He wouldn't answer. He doubted his father would even believe him no matter what his nose and ears told him. He simply didn't know how his sire would react. Would he forbid him from visiting her ever again for their own safety? Or would he just tease him relentlessly? Would he say nothing at all? In the end, where he spent his free time was little of his father's business. It was not necessary for him to know. Touga sighed, his posture relaxing, "For leaving Inuyasha at the infirmary instead of bleeding all over the study, I will let this go. I assume you are not going anywhere that would disappoint me?"

"I am not, father."

"Very well. Get some rest. Healing so quickly is taxing and I don't want you falling ill. Goodnight, son."

"Goodnight, father…" Sesshomaru replied as his father left, his perplexed expression unnoticed. He wasn't tired in the slightest. He felt he could take on Ryūkotsusei at this very moment. He shook his head and made his way to his room. Later, he would search for answers about Rin and his wounds. For now, he must pretend to rest to not rouse more suspicion from his father.

**End of Chapter 3**


	4. But you always come back.

Original Publish Date: 4/14/2018  
Minor Fixes: 4/16/2018

" **I can't deal with this!"**

Sesshomaru was in his smaller study with literature about the veil between worlds, relatively far from the shouting couple, but his sensitive hearing picked up their voices from across the castle. It was the third breakdown Izayoi had in recent years as the regret of a decision she made long ago gradually chipped away her sanity. No hanyou that was made could keep their human heart from constantly struggling against their new youkai blood. Even Inuyasha as a birthed hanyou needed outside assistance in the form of Tessaiga when his life was in danger, a fact his father didn't inform him of until months after he lost his arm. In his eyes, it turned the once mighty sword into a  _crutch_  for a weak hanyou, and he no longer desired it.

"Izayoi, lower your voice…" As if it mattered, the whole castle already heard them by now.

"No! Everything  _hurts_!" Why his father accepted her soul, he would never know. Power could not have been his reason. Long ago, his sire drilled it into him that it wasn't worth the price. If he deeply cared for her as he claimed, why would he damn her to such fate? Did he believe she was different than others? That she would somehow defy centuries of failed attempts?

Sesshomaru closed the book with a soft sigh, rising from his chair and leaving the castle grounds from his balcony. He may not have cared for the woman much, but the sound of pain in her voice was very real, so was the helplessness in his father's. He would give them some privacy.

Absently, he flew over the mountaintops and over the rolling plains of navy-blue long grass. In this entire time, he found nothing about how the girl could heal his wounds. Any texts related to humans only spoke of feeding and nothing more. How strange it was that there was so little about this unfortunate codependency his kind had on humans, though he was guilty himself of not giving it much thought till now, always so preoccupied with making himself stronger.

He recently got through half of the castle's massive library (the realm's largest wealth of knowledge) and discovered something strange, the age of books.  _Nothing older than 300 years._  The library was a place he scarcely visited anymore as he never needed it aside for teachings of Math and Science. For ancient history, he relied on stories from his father and mother during his upbringing, but he knew for a fact he could easily find older books in the mortal world. It was simply impossible that no texts  _here_ , a realm of beings that lived for centuries, were older than that.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize how long he was flying. It had to have been at least a few hours, as his father soon joined him.

It didn't surprise him anymore. Since the moment in his study, his sire had taken to almost stalking him -  _or was he avoiding Izayoi? Perhaps a bit of both._  Sesshomaru had told Rin of his father, he had only visited her twice in the past three years due to his sire's persistent presence. He couldn't bare that he had a secret. Sesshomaru took a bit of spiteful glee from it. After all, Touga had done the same when he was sneaking off to meet with Izayoi, under different circumstances. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"You are not."

Touga sighed, "I apologize. You shouldn't have to leave your home for peace."

"It does not bother me." The two continued directionless across the darkening sky. When the fake sun dipped below the horizon, it was his father who broke the silence.

"You haven't fed in awhile." Sesshomaru's most recent visit to Rin was two months ago, unintentionally on the night of her 16th birthday. The teenager treated his appearance like a great gift despite his lacking of one. That time, he was strangely rejuvenated from her company, not needing to fed for weeks after. It seemed he was doing less and less hunting now that he truly thought on it. "Son?" He looked at his father who watched him with a curious expression, "Perhaps we should hunt together. There is a human I have been prepping for some time now."

 _Oh?_  He hadn't hunted with his father for decades. "Who?"

"Takemaru Setsuna."

He recognized the name immediately, Izayoi's former husband. The man had an unhealthy relationship with her, more of a one-sided obsession that turned abusive. The night Touga had officially brought Izayoi home after taking her soul was when Takemaru had nearly beaten her to death, thinking she was with another man. He also started to go mad after the woman disappeared. "We don't hunt for vengeance."

"The humans have failed to bring him to justice. I will not."

"Vigilantism is frowned upon."

Touga chuckled, "And since when do you care for the rules set by the council?"

"Never. Lead the way."

The two daiyoukai arrived in a closet that was about the size of an average bedroom. Since the sun had  _just_  set, they couldn't simply run out, snarl and be done with it. It was too early, adult humans don't believe there is something lurking in the dark at this time, so they had to  _make_  him believe. First, it was little things. Moving a throw pillow, turning off or on electronics and lights, dropping items from shelves, rattling dishes - they nearly had full reign of the large, high-rise penthouse as his belief was too weak for him to physically see them so they behaved as mischievous ghosts. When Takemaru's heart began to race as he fixed their disturbances, they started to move more carefully.

Touga lowered the thermostat all the way as a silent signal to begin, and Sesshomaru turned on all the burners at the gas range before slipping into the utility closet nearby. "What the hell?!" They heard the man scream in the kitchen as he frantically turned off the range. The younger daiyoukai found the breaker box and waited until he heard his sire drop a vase down the hall - "Who's there?!" - and the human run over before he switched off every breaker except the central air unit to keep the place dark and chilly. The younger daiyoukai left the closet, transformed into his dog form, as large as the massive two-story penthouse allowed, and blocked the front door. "Why don't you leave me alone?!"

He crouched low when he heard the human returning from the hall, and snapped his jaws dangerously close just as he passed. "Ahh!" Takemaru scrambled backward, hitting a lamp and falling onto the sofa. Sesshomaru took this moment to hide before the human got on his feet again. "What? No… There was a dog… I saw it…"

The human stammered as he ran his hands through his black hair. For a moment, there was silence - only the humming sound of the AC pumping cold air. "I'm going crazy-" Touga's deep growl vibrated the apartment, trembling the wall of windows across from them. The bulkier canine form emerged from the darkness, standing on the loft that overlooked the first floor. As he stepped down, his form grew to accommodate the extra space, glowing red eyes never leaving Takemaru's.

When the human made a break for the hall again, Sesshomaru jumped forward from hiding and snarled, forcing him back into the living room. Takemaru backed into the glass, cornered by two large muzzles, baring teeth larger than him. That was when Sesshomaru unleashed his youki and held him in place, as his father smothered the human's soul.

This wasn't a feeding. His sire was going to break him.

As Touga pushed, bearing his overwhelming energy on the human, Sesshomaru began to hear a strange buzzing in his ear. After not being able to place it, he tried to ignore it. In his mind's eye, he could see his father rampaging in Takemaru's head - a withered fortress with crazed guards trying to protect a twisted soul - using his paws, tearing through his defensives. He briefly wondered how it must feel, to have a monster in your head and be powerless to stop their assault. The man was now frothing at the mouth, eyes rolled back and his back arched unnaturally. The younger daiyoukai looked at his sire, making a gruff noise.

Takemaru's mind was gone. Touga looked at him and nodded, they both returned to their humanoid forms.

"His paranoia rose rather quickly… How long have you been toying with him?" Sesshomaru asked, wincing when the buzzing got louder.  _Rin._  He didn't know why, but that was what his instinct told him.

"A while." His father answered vaguely, watching the human slump into unconsciousness. Sesshomaru searched for her, but couldn't find her as if she was blocked from his senses.  _Wolves?_  Wolf youkai hunted in packs, they shroud the location in darkness with their youki to hide it from other predators and overwhelm their prey. There was no other reason why he couldn't find her - despite it being hours earlier for a usual wolf hunt. Thankfully, he visited her enough times to know exactly where the home is.

"Sesshomaru?" He didn't hear his father as he opened a portal and left him behind.

It was nearly pitch black in the room, difficult to see even with his heightened senses. He heard two feminine screams and the yipping and howling of at least six wolves. He sneered,  _Six? For two girls?_  One of the more confident animals charged at him, and his whip of light wrapped around its neck and with a flick of his wrist, he slammed it against another wolf. The alpha got the pack roared for a retreat, knowing he would not be able to protect them. Once all six wolves jumped into their own small portals, the darkness in the room eased as the moonlight returned, filtering its soft light through the open curtains.

Sesshomaru's eyes landed on the two forms huddled together on the bed and his eyes narrowed at the stranger who looked to be the same age as Rin and held her against her chest. Silver hair that didn't reek of chemicals and purple eyes that were not laughably fake - he sniffed the air, she was a hanyou, a bat hanyou. He also caught the scent of Rin's tears, who was desperately wiping them away as quickly as she could.

"He actually came…" Muttered the hanyou, before she looked at Rin with concern. "Are you okay?" She nodded, not looking up as she fought to collect herself. When he took a step forward, the hanyou pushed Rin slightly behind her, placing herself as a shield between them. He raised an eyebrow at her foolish courage. If she couldn't scare off the group low-born wolf youkai, what did she believe she could do to him? "You aren't playing with her, are you? She called your name. Why?"

Sesshomaru glared at the insinuation, as if he had to answer to her. The hanyou may have been talking tough but her body trembled and her breathing was unsteady. When he took another step forward, a red barrier flashed around the bed. There was no question. "You are Tsukuyomaru's daughter." Her fear spiked further with his words, and the barrier cackled enough for him to take a step back.

"Shiori." Rin placed her hand on the hanyou's shoulder, causing her look over, "Lord Sesshomaru is a friend."  _Friend?_  "It's okay."

"Are you sure…?" He heard her whisper, and Rin nodded.

"He won't hurt us." The hanyou still looked unsure when she lowered the barrier, keeping her eyes on him. At least  _one_  of the teenagers in the room realized how dangerous he truly is. "Lord Sesshomaru." Rin was looking at him now, her eyes were still teary when she smiled at him. "Thank you for helping us."

His gaze shifted to the hanyou, Shiori, "What are you doing here?"

"She's my friend!" Rin chirped, wrapping an arm around the hanyou in a half-hug, "We go to the same school. We were having a sleepover."

"What she said." Shiori agreed. "But what are  _you_  doing here?" She asked him, her tone was no longer accusing but bewildered.

Rin butted in, "I told you. He's a friend too!" The hanyou looked at the human like she was insane.

"Father said he was a heartless, mean, egotistic  _brat_." Shiori whispered into Rin's ear. He glared at the hanyou but it went unnoticed. Apparently, her father didn't mention his superior hearing.

The human gasped loudly as if  _she_  had been personally insulted, "No, he isn't! He's nice!"  _Nice…?_  He wasn't  _nice_. He was no one's  _friend_. Sesshomaru took a deep breath as the two teenage girls continued to argue back and forth about his character - something that either clearly knew  _nothing_  about - oblivious to his rising displeasure.

"Enough!" He snapped and the two girls immediately shut their mouths. His eyes landed on Rin first, "I told you not to speak to any monsters."

"I don't." The teenager huffed, "The ones who were hurting her just because she looks different are the monsters. I don't talk to  _them_." Shiori smiled at the human and Sesshomaru frowned at her response.

"You know what I speak of, Rin."

The human stubbornly shook her head, "Monsters  _like_  hurting people. Shiori doesn't, she doesn't hurt anyone."

He shifted his attention to the hanyou, "You endanger her with your presence." Inuyasha learned while attending school that any friend he made would slowly start seeing through the guise his father created to hide his ears, regardless of their previous level of belief in their kind. It made them easy targets for feeding afterward.

The hanyou didn't like his words, her sharp tone returning, "No more than  _you_." Had Rin not been in the room, he would have made sure the girl regretted her comment instantly.

"RIN!" The sound an older woman's yell made the two teens jump, "We're back!"

"I'll go downstairs so they don't try coming in here." Rin said as she rose from bed, then adjusted her fuzzy flower pattern shorts. She looked at him first, "Don't go yet, please?" He wouldn't leave until he was sure the wolves didn't damage her mind, but he said nothing with the hanyou watching them both. He didn't need to, Rin smiled and mouthed another 'thank you' before leaving. When his attention diverted to Shiori again, he swore he saw a bit of humor in her gaze. She got off the bed and stood a respectable distance from him.

"Lord Sesshomaru. Thank you for getting rid of the wolves." She bowed, "And I swear on my father's grave, I won't tell anyone about you two."

He ignored the gesture and her odd tone, "The wolves persisted their attack after they likely scented your hanyou blood. Why?"

The bat hanyou shifted uncomfortably, "I don't know."

"You know  _something_." He growled, sensing she was withholding information.

Her gaze dropped to the floor, "I don't  _know_  anything… but I think someone has been watching my mom and me, ever since father passed."

"Your mother lives here with you… She is hanyou?" The tan teen shook her head and told him she was a normal human like Rin. That was impossible. "How, then, were you conceived?"

"When a man and a woman love each other-" Sesshomaru allowed some poison to seep from his claws. Shiori frantically waved her hands in front of her and apologized before continuing, "I'm only telling you because Rin trusts you... Mom could touch father."

"How?"

Shiori shrugged, "Father said it was because mom loved him so much, she gave him life, but... I think he was just being sappy."

"Your grandfather claimed he was going to leave the realm behind. Was that true?"

"He didn't say. The last time I saw him, we were eating okonomiyaki mom made for breakfast. He said had to take care of something and he'd be back by the time school was over. But…"

 _He was killed._  Sesshomaru finished internally. His eyes widened,  _her father was eating breakfast..._

"Alright. Coast is clear." Rin announced as she came in, locking the door behind her. Her hand hovered over the light switch, "You've never been here this early in the night… if I turn on the light, do you disappear? Or does it hurt or…?"

Shiori laughed, "That's not how it works. He'll still be here." He tilted his head in agreement and Rin suddenly flushed, flicking the ceiling light on.

"Well, you two were still standing in the dark, I wasn't sure!" The human crossed her arms under her chest, walking over to both of them. She looked at Shiori, "Do you know Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Not personally." The hanyou replied. His eyes swept over Rin's form, looking for any abnormalities. Her heart rate was a bit quickened but it had been during his last visit as well. "I, uhm… uh. Gotta use the bathroom!" The hanyou suddenly blurted out - it was a  _lie_  - and rushed out the room. The abrupt departure seemed to embarrass Rin for whatever reason, as her cheeks flushed a soft pink and her eyes were glued to the carpet.

"Are you unharmed?" He asked as he checked the state of her mind. Her meadow was scarred, but no walls were being built. He frowned,  _Why hasn't she put up a single wall yet?_  It was not normal for one of her age to still have such an open mind. Combined with her troubled childhood, she should have had a fortress by now, built from loneliness, shame and mistrust.

She squeezed the arms around her tighter, "I'm fine, thanks to you."

The answer left him dissatisfied, despite having checked himself. Her behavior was peculiar, it was unlike her to not look up at him smiling. "Rin."

She glanced up for only a split second, "Yes?"

"Look at me."

Her eyes slowly trailed up until they met his and he heard her heart pump louder. Was she ill? He didn't smell sickness on her. "You are acting strangely."

She swallowed thickly, repeating herself, "I'm fine."

It wasn't a lie. He was at a loss and pinned her strangeness on the awkwardness that plagues every species around her age. "Very well."

When he turned, she stepped closer and her hand made a move to grab him but pulled back, "Wait! I- Uhm, when will I see you again?"

"When?"

Rin finally smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkled, "You always come back. It seemed silly to ask if you will. Is your father still following you around?"

"Yes. I left him to come here."

She paled, "He saw you? Are you going to get in trouble?" She buried her face in her hands, "Oh nooo, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have called for you. I won't do it again-"

"Rin." She brought her eyes back to his. He remembered his father's paws crumbling Takemaru's castle to dust and the man's distant eyes before consciousness left him. What would happen to her if a youkai got close enough to run free in her mind? "You will call me if you are in danger."

"But-" The human stopped her protest when he narrowed his eyes with a defeated sigh, "Okay… Can I call you if I'm not in danger?"

"Why?"

"... To see you." He blinked slowly. Rin squirmed. "And talk."

"We already do."

Her face started to redden all over again, "I mean..." She started rubbing a lock of her long hair between her thumb and index finger, a sign of nervousness. "I'd like to see you more often." Rin shifted her feet and her gaze hit the floor again, "I-if that's okay…" Her heart was pounding and the color on her cheeks rivaled a summer tomato. "I don't want to bother you or anything." She was combusting before his eyes and he couldn't phantom why, but he felt a touch of amusement from the sight.

"Yes."

The large sigh of her relief was second only to the happiness brightening her eyes, "I'll see you later then." He nodded, this time leaving her home and landing in the castle's courtyard.

There was the possibility that someone in this realm knew about Tsukuyomaru's 'day-walking'... Perhaps trying to get rid of Shiori and her mother as they were proof that their kind didn't have to stay stuck in this dark place. He began walking to the doors as he thought,  _Who would benefit from keeping it a secret?_

The council members would undoubtedly lose grip on their power if their constituents were able to cross over without them - consisting of his father, Abi, Kaguya, Shishinki, and Hoshiyomi who hasn't been seen for 3 months now. His father was out of the question. Abi was there when the bat daiyoukai was killed and a good friend to the bat clan. He had spoken to her a couple of times since his death - the phoenix didn't know any details surrounding his life in the mortal world.

Hoshiyomi was rumored to be in love with a human but there was no evidence that he knew of, and the other two were ambitious, power-hungry daiyoukai… but he couldn't picture any of the wolf tribes working with them. They were an isolated people who lived on Mount Reiku at the eastern edge of the realm or in the ice forest to the north, and neither liked people of the court.

Lost in his thoughts, he was startled when his father snuck up behind him once he was in the hall and having just passed his study, "Sesshomaru."

He turned to face him, his sire's face unreadable. "Yes, father?"

"I had a pack of wolves tell me there was a rabid, white dog interfering in their hunt. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

It was unsettling that he couldn't read his father. "I do." Touga said nothing, raising an eyebrow, waiting. "It was I."

"They were rather unhappy… it isn't exactly protocol. They claimed their prey called you by  _name_. Is there a human out there that knows your name?"

Nothing. Absolutely no emotion on his father's face or voice. "Yes."

Touga gestured to the oak doors behind him. "Sit. I'll return shortly." Sesshomaru did as his father ordered. When his sire returned, he had a fresh bottle of bourbon and two glasses. He sat beside him, instead of behind the desk, set the items down, then served before asking, "What's her name?"

He narrowed his eyes, suspicious of his father, "Why?" But Touga did not respond. When his sire was asking questions, you  _answer_  - you don't ask. He took a sip before replying, "Rin."

"Rin…" His father repeated, his golden eyes appeared to be scrutinizing every inch of him. "You left so quickly, I was concerned. You hardly move so hastily for anything."

"It was not my intention to worry you."

"Hmm…" Touga drank quietly for a few sips, contemplating by the look on his face. "You heard her voice." Did his father know something about that?

"No."

"You heard something."

"Yes."

"Hmm…" It was quiet again. His father continued enjoying his drink. It was in these rare moments where he understood certain frustrations others had when he simply 'hn'ed. "Do you know what you are doing?"

He blinked, "I don't know what you mean."

"Her safety-"

"-Is not your concern."

Touga scoffed, doing a terrible job of hiding a smile behind his glass as he spoke, " _Brat_."

He sneered, "You were watching me."  _He manipulated the entire discussion for what? A laugh?_

His sire shrugged, "I left when Shiori did." He let out a sly chuckle, his eyes seemed to be plotting something he didn't understand, "The poor girl split so fast, I thought I should too."

"I don't like your face."

Touga nearly choked on his drink, laughing, " _Oh_? What about it?"

"It's suggestive."

"I am only teasing. As for the wolves… I will look into why they attacked this Shiori and your Rin so recklessly. Do not pursue it." When he opened his mouth to retort, his father shut it down. "That is an  **order** , Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru exhaled through his nose, setting down his glass with a hand that tried not crack the fragile cup as he rose from his seat. "Is that all, my  _lord_?"

The older daiyoukai frowned and mimicked his action, then set a hand on his shoulder as he does when he is trying to calm and 'connect' with him. At the moment, it only felt patronizing. "My son, you must understand. -" An earth-shattering roar quaked the floor of the castle. Both looked out the towering window to see the massive form of Ryūkotsusei flying in the sky, waiting for a response to his challenge. The dragon spirit did this ever so often when he got bored of floating around the realm and the demon graveyard, he would find his way to his father's lands for a fight. The two would rage for hours, neither would win, and go back to their respective lives until the next time.

"I don't understand why you allow these fights to continue." Surely his sire was powerful enough to kill and be done with him.

"Shishinki and Ryūkotsusei, along with myself, are the oldest living youkai, as you know. I suppose it's some strange form of camaraderie that stops us from the killing blow…" The dragon began spitting balls of electricity into the deep gray sea as if impatient, "Hōsenki will not be pleased if he trashes the coast. I must go." His father opened the window and jumped into the sky, taking on his true form before he dragged the fight far out into the plains.

"Where is he going…?" Sesshomaru glanced over his shoulder at the tired, female voice. Izayoi had snuck into the study and was walking toward the window, her weary brown eyes squinting as she looked into the distance. "Is that Ryūkotsusei?"

"Hn."

"Oh… He will be gravely injured when he returns then, won't he?" She looked at him but he continued staring forward to the plains, "Your father keeps so many secrets, sometimes it's hard to remember that he is not a bad person…" A feeling of deja vu crept on him - as a boy on the dais talking to his own mother. What made her say that all the sudden? "He killed Takemaru."

It wasn't stated as a question but he replied all the same, "Yes." The human undoubtedly killed himself after he regained consciousness.

"I asked him not to. I didn't care what happened to that man anymore, but I didn't want him killed." From his peripheral vision, he could see the bags under her eyes had aged her significantly. Her skin was almost a dusty color as the blood in her veins was cold. The transformation had not been kind to her health in the long run, she looked a decade or more older than she was. "He always makes sure we are taken care of, with our honor intact, with us nearby him." She tucked a loose lock of her hair behind her ear, "He would do anything to convince your mother to move back in here, you know? He's also been looking for relics or enchantments to help Inuyasha stay here longer,  _forever._ "

Sesshomaru resisted the urge to scoff, "Inuyasha would not agree to that."

"Touga does not look for approval, he demands it." The bitterness in her voice surprised him, she always spoke softly, especially about his father. While a part of him wanted to reprimand her for the slight, another part of him couldn't help but agree… And it reminded him of a time when his mother had said the same. "He would wait until there is no other choice… to make sure we are all close and happy. Even if it means cursing a blade... or blocking his son's way for every time he edges closer to the way out."

"That doesn't interest me." Sesshomaru had never let his desire to leave this place be known, not to his father, or mother - anyone.

"I know it does, and if  _I_  do, your father does." Izayoi met his gaze, "He would never intentionally hurt you… but I worry about what he might be planning." She gave a glance to Tensaiga on his hip, "He can be a bit  _obsessive_  about the future."

"Why are you telling me this?" Should he even give weight to anything she said? Even if she seemed lucid now, he knew she wasn't stable. What if it was only the ramblings of a mad woman?

"I know you hardly tolerate my presence, Lord Sesshomaru… I believe this is the most we have spoken since I arrived?" She let out a small chuckle, he smelt the salt of tears she didn't allow to fall, "I want to see you leave, because  _I can't_. No one deserves to be stuck in this place forever." The former human cleared her throat and smoothed out her clothing absently, the glassiness in her eyes retreating, "You should know, he killed those wolves." That didn't sound like a  _diplomatic_  solution, the ways his father always seemed to push on him, not to mention out-of-character for him, but the woman was telling the truth. "Your father was anxious. I imagine it was to keep another secret of his safe or… to find out one of yours?"

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes, that hit far too close to what happened. Touga now knows who and where Rin is, and with the wolves dead and not knowing which of the  _many_  tribes they belonged to, Sesshomaru couldn't interrogate them about Shiori and had no lead.  _No_ , he thought,  _Father wouldn't harm two innocent young women for anything. Izayoi is insane… but why kill the wolves and not tell me?_ Their relations with the wolves were already rocky at best. Even if they don't all belong to the same tribe if it was known that Touga slaughtered an entire pack for a legitimate complaint...

Her hand gently touched the empty sleeve of his kimono, bringing him out of his thoughts and he was too curious of what else she would say to scold her, "I know it's not much consolation, but I pulled Inuyasha's ears pretty hard for that." His lips quirked but he said nothing. "I should get going." The woman turned to leave but paused at the doorway and whispered in parting, "Please be careful, Lord Sesshomaru."

**End of Chapter 4**


	5. You would protect me.

Original Publish Date: 4/20/2018

" **Ugh. I can't."**

It's been nearly six months since Rin asked him if it was alright to call and she couldn't bring herself to do it. Especially after all the things Shiori told her about Lord Sesshomaru. When she was younger, she didn't question too much about his status, and his visits were so brief and so far apart - there were other things to talk about! (Not that he did much of the talking in the first place.)

Hearing that he was the son of one of the most powerful monsters -  _youkai_  - ever and he, himself, was also ridiculously powerful was a bit intimidating. Most of her fears were relieved the very next time he stopped by a month after. To her, he just wasn't the "cold, arrogant assassin" that Shiori said everyone described him as. He would come for a brief moment: watch, listen, talk, and make sure she was okay in his own way.

_So why in the world can't I just call him over?!_  Rin mentally screamed, groaning into her pink body pillow. Maybe it had something to with  _how_ … does she just say his name in her empty room? She was screaming in fear last time.

Or maybe it had something to with how different he looked under proper light - seeing details that she never could make out when the room was dark with only the moonlight spilling in - and Shiori casually mentioning he was pretty hot after he left.

Sesshomaru.

_Hot?_

And Rin did it again. Stuck thinking about how attractive her friend was. Her gods-know-how-old-he-is friend. Friend.  _FRIEND._  Not hot.  _You're hopeless._  She thought, sighing as she turned on her back. In a bout of random courage, she finally said the words, "Sesshomaru."

Rin stared at the ceiling as she waited for that familiar feeling; an invisible wave of warmth that felt like slipping under the covers of a kotatsu. She tapped her bottom lip with her index finger,  _Maybe it only works when I'm in trouble or I just didn't say it loud enough?_  She wasn't going to scream -

And she smiled when that familiar feeling washed over her. Rin sat up, crawled to the end of her bed to kneel as the closet door shuttered opened.  _Oh no._ Sesshomaru hardly wore anything other than a traditional garb, sometimes with armor, but now he wore a simple, fitted long-sleeve white tee and a pair of jeans. She wasn't aware that he even had casual clothing. It made him look too… too  _real. Normal. Obtainable? Stop thinking._

"Rin."  _Oh no._  She was staring like an idiot.

"Lord Sesshomaru, you came!" She exclaimed before he could make any comment.

"Hn." His golden eyes swept over her figure and she tried very hard to keep Shiori's teasing words out her head. He  **wasn't**  checking her out - he always did that, sort of.  _Maybe he did start that more recently… whatever._  It had to be him making sure she wasn't hurt. Had to be.

As he walked up to her, she figured out another possible - no, real. Very real - reason. He was a man… a man who could only come to her at night, in her room, alone… and she wasn't a kid anymore. The childlike wonder she used to look at him with changed a couple of years ago to something she couldn't put her finger on. It didn't really hit her - and boy, did it hit her  _hard_  - until the wolf incident. His gaze traveled to the open textbooks and notebook paper behind her.

"Trouble with your studies?"

Did she mention, that for a supernatural being who lived in another realm, he was a surprisingly good history tutor? That wasn't why she called him, but she could not for the life of her think of a subject to talk about, she just wanted to see him! So, she relented, "I could use a bit of help…" Rin felt her cheeks heating up, "If you don't mind."

The desk seat he usually took was currently occupied by a mountain of books. Rin hadn't asked him to sit on her bed anymore, realizing at some point in her pre-teen years that it was probably inappropriate. But it shouldn't matter, its Sesshomaru. He would never do anything she didn't want. She moved a bit, freeing up space next to her, "You can sit here." Rin noticed his hesitation and a million thoughts of how much of an idiot she runs through her mind in that split second until the bed dipped with his added weight and he asked what she was studying. "World War 2, Eastern Front."

_Not exactly a romantic bedtime topic._

Not that she was  _looking_ for one.

But, one of the best parts of tutoring, was that it meant he would talk a lot. One of the worst parts was that the actual content flew over her head because she was too busy listening to the sound of his voice. Rin stared and took in how he enunciated every word, only to be stuck in embarrassed silence when he asked about the Siege of Leningrad and she had zero idea what he was referring to. "Rin."

"Y-yeah?"

"You are being strange again."

She looked away, "No, everything's fine."

When he shifted closer, their shoulders touched.

Rin gasped, their shoulders  _touched_!

_That's not possible!_  His voice dropped, whispering in her ear, "Rin, do not lie to me…" A clawed finger hooked under her chin and moved her face towards his, "Do you think I wouldn't notice?"

"Notice what?" She managed to squeak, a feeling of dread coiling itself in her stomach. Something wasn't right, something felt off about him.

His lips curled, "The way you look at me." He was close enough to share the same air, "How you never want me to leave…" Rin didn't like the look in his eyes or the uncharacteristic smirk on his lips - none it looked right as if... When the hand holding her chin cupped her face and another arm made its way around her waist, the final warning bell went off in her head.  _Two arms._  No way he just grew another one from the span of leaving her closet and sitting on the bed. This wasn't Sesshomaru.

Rin tried pushing the body away from her, but the man scoffed, a bored look on his face, "Found out already, huh? Just relax and enjoy yourself…" He purred, pulling her flush against him. "Let me fulfill your desires. No way  _this_ guy of all people is going to."  _No, no, no!_ Her voice was gone. She tried again pushing as hard as she could but the man didn't budge an inch. She didn't understand;  _if monsters weren't whole in this world, how is this possible?!_ "Though I can't help but be curious… How does a cute little human like you know enough to fantasize about him, hmm?"

She brought her legs up and was able to maneuver to kick him - except he was like a wall and it was more of pushing herself away until she fell off the other edge of the bed. Rin tried scrambling up to her feet, but the man was on top of her in an instant, pinning her face down on the scratchy carpet. She struggled against the hold on her wrists in vain.

"It's a shame. I was willing to play nice with you. Here I thought with your sweet face, that's what you wanted." When one of her wrists were freed, she elbowed the male above her in the stomach but the impact only bruised her as his claws sliced and tore through her clothing. He crouched low, whispering as something hard pressed against her exposed lower back, "But no, you want to be taken rough, like an eager bitch. I guess I shouldn't be surprised if a dog is what you are after."

Rin woke up in a sweat, the sound of snarling and screaming in her ears. Her eyes searched the room as they adjusted to the darkness. Sesshomaru's silver hair was hard to miss especially when it seemed to whip around him like if the wind was blowing, and he was towering over another wounded young man on the floor. She noticed the blood dripping from her friend's claws.

"Damn dog." The younger man hissed as he rose, clutching his left side. "We're all supposed to  _share_ , ya know? - fuck." He poofed in a small cloud of smoke just before Sesshomaru let out some kind of green gas from his clawed hand. He was gone and her friend looked displeased with the result.

"Lord Sesshomaru…?" The red eyes shifted to her, its menacing color receding to its usual golden hue. "Wh-What happened? Who was that?"

"A type of Incubus. Not all monsters feed on fear." Rin's gaze dropped, looking down at her open hands and wrists. She could still feel the stranger gripping them. "They enter your dreams and feed off your desires. They commonly attack those coming of age."  _A dream? But it felt so real._ He was in her head then, and she couldn't stop it. Her hands closed into fists as she fought the prickling in her eyes.

"He tricked me…" Rin replied softly. She'd rather be beaten than have someone like that in her mind.

"They take the form of what you find most pleasing." His eyes hardened, "You are frightened."

Feeling naked, she pulled the covers up to her chin as she brought her knees up to hug herself. "He was going to…" She shook her head and looked up at him, "Thank you for saving me… but how'd you know?"

"You called me."

Rin stared,  _No, I didn't. It was a dream… Did he hear her in her dreams?_  She was too nervous to question further, not wanting him to find out the incubus took  **his** form. Not that she even understood why, he was a friend, not what she desired…  _Right? Right! It was just another monster..._ She glanced at the digital clock on her nightstand. 2:30 AM. Still some time till sunrise and she had school in the morning. But if she fell asleep…

Her heart started to thud louder,  _would that monster come back?_  "Can -" She pursed her lips, aborting the question.  _No, he just saved me again. I can't keep asking for things._

Sesshomaru never liked it when she did that. "Speak."

Rin chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, "Could you stay the night…?"

She watched his golden eyes widened a fraction before he gave a curt nod, taking his usual seat at her desk by the bed. Rin made herself comfortable then, snuggling up with her body pillow and comforter, facing him. Normally, the silence was fine, but right now… "Shiori told me your father loved a human and took her to your world… Is that true?"

She learned early to look for any twitches on his face that signaled his true feelings like the small tick in his jaw before he blandly replied: "He did."

"Is that a bad thing…?"

He opened his mouth but shut it close again as if he was reconsidering his answer. "It doesn't matter anymore."

_Guess that's the end of that…_ Rin started chewing on her bottom lip, wondering what to talk about and coming up blank. She just wanted a distraction so she wouldn't think about what had happened. " _...you want to be taken rough, like an eager bitch_." Rin winced and buried her face in her pillow, desperately holding in the pang of shame that struck her.  _Don't cry, don't cry._

"Rin." She didn't look up just yet. The dam would break if she did, she knew it. After a few moments, the still silence in her room was suffocating - or maybe she had to finally bring her head up. Her eyes peeked over the covers at him. He was staring the ground with a look that she could only describe as murderous and wondered what in the world he was thinking, then he looked at her before she could hide again, his eyes softened a fraction.

Rin wiggled closer to the edge, closer to him, and settled in again.  _Might as well ask,_  "What are you thinking about?"

He stared at her for a moment before replying, "Murdering the incubus."

_Oh._

"Do you have to?"

His eyes narrowed, "He harmed you."

"I'll be okay." Rin rather not have people dying.  _Even if…_  "That's how he survives, isn't it?"

"He survives by not angering those above him. He made a fatal mistake tonight."

"But I'm okay." She was totally fine! By morning, she'll just focus on others things like school.  _I'm okay._  She repeated to herself,  _I'm okay._

He inhaled, his honey gaze pierced through her and she felt a very specific prickling sensation around her neck that traveled around her scalp, something she inexplicably felt two or three times with him. "You are lying."

Rin swallowed hard at the accusation, "N-no."

"Rin, do not lie to me." She flinched away from him, startled by the same words she heard from the monster earlier. Rin saw his jaw and his bloodied hand clench in response.  _I didn't mean to._  Was she was being troublesome?

"I'm sorry," Rin whispered, clutching her pillow closer.

"Rest." He told her, and she tried, rustling and turning for an hour before sleep finally took her. When she woke an hour before class, there was no evidence of Sesshomaru's presence like every other time. No blood on the carpet, no green acid damaging the wall. Rin sighed as got up from the bed, and began getting ready for school.

_Ahh, I forgot to tell him I won't be here this weekend._  She thought while brushing out the knots in her hair,  _It should be fine. His visits are never close together._  Rin made sure she had enough clothing for sleeping over at Sango's. They, along with Kagome, had a project for their social studies class that they planned on finishing early in the weekend.  _I wonder if they believe in monsters._  It wasn't something you could just bring up out of the blue… or maybe she could. Shiori did tell her not to, but she couldn't be the only one...

Satisfied with her appearance, she grabbed her things and rushed to the train station.

Sesshomaru had been searching for the incubus all day. As the sun began its descent, he returned home only to find he didn't have to go so far to find the youkai.

His father sat on one of metal outdoor chairs in his mother's old garden, a half-empty bottle on the glass table, a drink in hand and the dismembered body of his prey on the dried grass. "Sesshomaru, you've returned." Touga motioned him over and he reluctantly stepped closer.  _What could he possibly want now?_  "This one here -" He pointed to the corpse, "- just tried blackmailing me."

"A foolish endeavor."

His sire nodded, "Very much so… but I am surprised you let him go initially."  _The incubus tried to use Rin as blackmail? In what way?_

"I had other things to attend to."

"I'm sure she kept you busy."  _That tone again_. His father was looking to get a rise from him. "You must introduce me."

"Never." He replied with zero hesitation, and his father found it absolutely hilarious. Sesshomaru scowled at the laughing man, not understanding his behavior.

Touga finished his drink and rose from the seat, "I am just having some fun with you, son."  _Or he's drunk_. His father had taken to drinking often in the past month.  _In fact…_

"I haven't seen Izayoi in the past week and you have been acting more odd than usual."

"Is that concern I'm hearing?"

"Curiosity." He answered blandly.

"Hmm…" His father's gaze drifted to the dead, overgrown shrubbery, "She is in a cell." Sesshomaru's eyes widened. "For her own protection."

_If Izayoi's mental state was terrible enough to warrant him throwing her in a cell…_  "Would it not be better to kill her instead?"

His sire took a deep breath, anger flaring in his identical gold eyes, "It is temporary. She will pull through." Sesshomaru said nothing more. He knew his father wouldn't listen. They had different views on things such as compassion, mercy, and Izayoi's strength or lack thereof. "Earlier… it was not a request. I wish to properly meet this girl."

"Why?"

" _Curiosity._ " Touga taunted. Sesshomaru glared and his father chuckled, "Easy now. I am merely curious about the young woman who seems to have enraptured my most difficult son."

_Now_  he growled, "Enough with your tone. I'm not enraptured by anyone."

"Yet you hear and respond to her call. Dare I say, you are  _protecting_  her. Besides…" Touga gave a pointed look to the corpse behind him, "I believe my tone is warranted."

He was too angry to de-compact his father's meaning, "Don't be ridiculous. She is only a..." He pursed his lips,  _Only a what?_

Touga's smile turned into a full grin and Sesshomaru mentally kicked himself for allowing his father to rile him up exactly as he wanted. His father filled in the blank as he saw fit, "I would like to meet my son's first  _friend_. Is that acceptable, Sesshomaru?  _Friend?_ You didn't have much of a problem with her calling you one, considering it would normally result in certain death." He said nothing. "Why would you not want me to meet her?"

Sesshomaru mulled it over for a moment. Rin was deeply unsettled over the incident and despite her insistence that she was 'okay': her voice trembled, her heart was erratic, her mind was wounded, she  _flinched away from him_  and he was still coming to terms with how much that affected him. He was planning on staying this night as well to ensure another didn't get attracted to her vulnerability, he didn't think it would be wise to introduce her to another youkai so soon. Then there was the conversation with Izayoi months ago that he hadn't forgotten...

But none of that was his father's business. "There is no reason to explain myself to you."

Touga spoke as he walked past his son, "Then I will visit her myself. After all, I've seen her and her home. I don't need you to guide me." Gods know what his father would say to her if they were alone. It was out of the question.

"Leave her." Sesshomaru found himself saying, making his sire pause.

"Why?" He asked again.

Sesshomaru relented, "... She is unwell."

Touga smirked, " _That_  is concern. Another time then."

While he watched his smug father walk away, he briefly entertained the idea of snatching So'unga from his back and plunging it into the older daiyoukai's chest. That would have to wait. Eager to leave his father, Sesshomaru opened a portal to Rin's light out of habit, not noticing he landed in an unfamiliar place until it was too late.

"Did anyone else feel that?" He heard a nervous feminine voice ask. Her aura felt… unusual - nothing like the average human.

"Hmm, no." Said another, more confident female.

"Hehe, I think these movies are scaring Kagome." And Rin.

"Hey, let's go check on the pizza!"

"Sure! Let me just grab something from my bag first."

The two strangers left the room, with one protesting rather loudly like she was being dragged.

Rin opened the closet door and shut it behind her, before turning on the light. The room wasn't tiny, but two adult bodies pushed the limits of the available space and the young woman was closer than she'd ever been to him. "Lord Sesshomaru." She smiled apologetically, "I forgot to tell you I'll be at a friend's house this weekend… but I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon." Her tone shifted to worry, "Did things with your father go okay?"

"Hn." The vague answer made her pout. He had no plans to tell her of his sire's intentions to meet her just yet. "Are you... better?" He asked, still finding the words strange on his tongue. He wasn't one to inquire honestly about anyone's well-being before he met her.

"Hn." Her cocoa eyes shined with mirth as he watched her lips struggle to not smile. He huffed,  _She is mocking me._

"Rin." But his voice lacked its usual bite, unable to find the usual annoyance he felt towards such things.

"Yes, I'm better." She was telling the truth. It didn't surprise him, her companions would know far more about comforting her than himself. He wasn't needed. Her gaze dropped to her feet, and her next words made him question the conclusion he made seconds ago, "I always feel better when I see you." She shifted closer, hardly an inch of air between them. It didn't matter, they couldn't touch each other... but it was almost as if he could feel her. "When will I see you again?" She should be fine with others around her at night. Certainly, by Monday, she will back to herself for the most part. Her eyes still pleaded with him, "Soon?"

"Soon."

Rin grinned, "I'll see you then."

"There was definitely something in there," Kagome said, pointing to the closet. She looked at Rin and she tried her best not to start fidgeting, "I felt it."

"Kagome comes from a long line of shrine priestesses, and she has like a sixth sense," Sango explained, handing Rin a slice of pizza. Sango and Rin were huddled in front of the TV as Kagome set up the next movie. She leaned in and whispered, "Not that I've never seen it actually work."

"I heard that!" Kagome exclaimed while she pushed the DVD in the player and then sat between them. "I know I felt something." She said with finality, crossing her arms over her chest.  _Maybe… Maybe Kagome believes in monsters? Could she see them?_

"I feel my grades slipping away," Sango mumbled in between bites. They had made no progress today, too busy with just hanging out.

"We'll get it done!" Rin exclaimed. They still had tomorrow and the day after.  _More than enough time!_

"Yup! Tomorrow we'll tackle our homework with no mercy." Kagome agreed, "But now, movie!"

After finishing 2 films from their mini-marathon, the three called it quits for the night after 2 AM. Sango retired to sleep in her younger brother's room - who was staying over at her grandfather's - while Rin and Kagome took Sango's bed. But Rin couldn't find sleep, even as her eyes dried in protest of being open and her friend was sound asleep behind her. That's when she heard it. A sticky, suction noise… coming from the closet.

Brown and black tentacles were escaping from the closet doors, silvering up the walls. Rin began shaking her friend, "Kagome…"

"Urgh…" She wouldn't wake.

Rin tried calming her heart. The darkness crept closer to them, the tentacles leaving a trail of black slime behind them that hissed and bubbled while they neared the bed.  _It can't touch us, it can't touch us._ But the lump in her throat didn't go away, her breath was coming out in pants as it encased the entire opposite wall. She shook her friend harder, "Kagome?" They had to leave before it reached the door.  _And what about Sango?_  As if her thoughts were being read, more came from the bedroom door. Others from under the bed as it crawled up the bedposts. Aand a type of gas was beginning to expel from the closet. It was foul enough to make her eyes sting and her throat turn hot. "Kagome!"

"Hmm? Wha…?" There was a pink lightning-flash, had Rin blinked she would have missed it entirely. Kagome yawned, her eyes droopy from her interrupted slumber, "Rin, what's going on?"

The monster was gone, and all evidence of it, as if the morning came and dissolved it all. "There was…" How?

Kagome sat up and looked around, "There was what?"

Rin blinked,  _I didn't imagine that… right?_  No, her eyes still stung as she wiped them. Her throat still on fire, but there was nothing there. "I… Nothing." She smiled at her friend, not wanting her to worry, "I'm sorry. I thought…"

Kagome pointed to the closet, an 'I-told-you-so' kind of look on her face, "That something was there?"

"Maybe…" Rin shook her head, "It's nothing. I'm just imagining things. I'm sorry I woke you."

Kagome looked unsure but let the subject drop as they both settled back into bed again. While her friend was fast asleep once more, Rin found herself having trouble sleeping for the second night in a row - unable to keep her eyes off the closet doors.

**End of Chapter 5**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm starting the process of buying a house this weekend, I really hope it won't affect writing and updating! Hope ya'll liked this chapter. Next one should be up next weekend!


	6. And I started to think...

Original Publish Date: 4/27/2018

" **You got… one right."**

Rin was sitting on the outdoor patio not far from the school library with Sango's younger brother, Kohaku, who was a year below theirs. He had a serious problem with English, but was awesome at Math, to the point of already taking a college course. Luckily, she was the opposite, and they were able to help each other out... And she totally bombed the practice quiz he gave her.

"You don't look well. Have you been sleeping alright?"  _NO._  Rin wanted to reply, having spent the entire weekend staring at Sango's closet doors during the night but she didn't want to worry her male friend.

"I'm fine, Kohaku, thank you for asking." Rin turned grabbed the paper he held, "So what did I do wrong?" Kohaku spent the rest of the hour trying to help her, but it was like throwing a wet rag on the wall and having it slid off. She was just too exhausted to remember equations or anything with numbers.

"Maybe we should try again tomorrow…" Kohaku offered, closing his textbook. "You should get some rest."

Rin sighed, "I guess I could use a nap." She faced him and smiled, "Thank you for trying, Kohaku."

The young man smiled back with a blush tinging his cheeks, "Y-yeah. No problem! See you tomorrow."

Rin gathered her things and headed towards the train station, lost in her thoughts. Shiori wasn't here today… She planned to ask the half-monster about what she saw. Hopefully _, Sesshomaru does stop by so I can ask him…_ She entered the fast train once its doors opened, opting to stand next to a pole instead of looking for a seat in the full cart. Rin fought to stay awake as the light swaying of the train car threatened to lull her to sleep.

She shook her head. If she fell asleep standing, she was going to end up on her face! The young woman looked around the cart, her eyes landing on a man whose back was toward her on the other side. She was in awe of his thick, inky black hair. It was very long, much longer than her's, and looked to have a deep green sheen to it when the sun hit it.  _That can't be his natural color._ While she pondered what products he must use to handle that mass of hair, the man looked over his shoulder and at her.

_Ah, busted!_  Rin's gaze dropped to the train floor, counting the metallic specks that decorated the linoleum. It wasn't long before two black loafers made their way to her view, and the young woman meekly looked up and widened her eyes.  _Oh_   _ **no**_ _. He's hot._  The man had to be around mid or early 20's, dressed in a black blazer and pants, and his soft brown eyes seemed to be laughing at her. Her eyes fell again. "Is the floor that interesting?"

Rin flushed at his teasing tone, "I-uhm… No." She gathered the courage to look up again and gasped. His eyes were no longer brown, but a crimson red with white pupils and his lids lined in a pale blue.

"Are you a… uhm, I think my friend called it, hanyou?"

The man's brows raised, "How perceptive. I knew there was something special about you."

"I didn't sense it or anything." Rin blurted out, "I just wanted to touch your hair."  _Oh, why did I just say that?_

The man chuckled, "You would not be the first. Go ahead."

Rin gasped, "Really?!" He nodded. She reached for the lock of hair that was over his shoulder. It was soft, almost velvety, like petting a fuzzy caterpillar - definitely not what normal hair felt like to her.  _How does Sesshomaru's hair feel like?_  She imagined it was like silk threads, gliding smoothly through her fingers. She frowned,  _I'll never know._

"Disappointed?"

"Oh no, no! I just zoned out a bit there. Your hair is so soft!" Rin answered, taking a moment to examine the man. There was something about him that made her a bit uneasy, but she wasn't sure if it was just her mind conjuring up something irrational. She would try so hard not to let the past judge her present, especially when meeting new people.

Her brows furrowed, figuring out what unsettled her, "Your eyes… are kind of scary. Sorry..."

He smiled, "Humans carry an instinctual fear of spiders. It would be natural that you find something unsettling about my appearance."

"Half-spider? Do you swing around like Spiderman or…?"

This time the man outright laughed, "No, I do not."

Rin giggled at him, "I thought so."

"Do you speak to other monsters?"

"Uhm… I do." She lowered her voice further, "I'm not supposed to though."

"It is dangerous… especially full-blooded ones. Without a human heart, they are capable of the unthinkable."

She froze, "What do you mean? No human heart?"

"They don't feel emotion like humans. They run on instinct alone. Some of the more powerful ones adopt some code of honor, but it doesn't change what they are."

"But -" Rin bit her bottom lip.  _No, I shouldn't mention Sesshomaru._

"Poor girl. Are you friends with one? Is that why you can see through my guise effortlessly?"

"I… maybe."

"... Careful. You are too innocent to fall into the clutches of a monster…" He leaned forward, "Especially a daiyoukai. They play the  _long_  game for their prey."

"He wouldn't eat me." Rin protested. The man might have good intentions with his warning, but he didn't know anything about Sesshomaru.

"Not in the way you think."

Deja vu made her freeze, "What do you mean…?"

When the train announced the next stop approaching, the man glanced up. "This is my stop. It was nice meeting you, Ms…?"

"Rin. It was nice meeting you too, Mr…?"

"You may call me Naraku."

"Naraku…" Rin tested the name, "Maybe we'll meet again…"

"Hm, I'm sure we will, Rin." The man said before he departed the train. She decided to take a seat as the cart emptied, Naraku's words taking over her thoughts.  _No human heart. I guess that makes sense. They're not human but… Shiori's father loved her and her mom. And Sesshomaru's father brought a human to live with him… and Sesshomaru definitely felt things._  Rin blinked,  _Mostly anger._ She tapped a finger against her lips,  _Er,_ _ **only**_   _anger._

He was either pissed, mildly annoyed, or just… calm, still, like a statue. It did look like he almost smiled in Sango's closet on Friday or that was her teenage imagination running wild. Rin blushed as her fingers idly played with the edge of the hardback cover. I _wonder what his smile looks like._  She then huffed, sliding back into the chair,  _I shouldn't be thinking it like that._  She gasped, suddenly sitting up straight with a determined look,  _He's my friend. So his happiness should matter to me, that's not weird! I'll get him to smile!_

Rin rushed out of the train the moment it reached her station, thinking of ways to get Sesshomaru to smile - even just a  _tiny_  one - as she walked home and found that… She had no idea how.  _I don't know what he likes._  Her shoulders slumped while she opened her home's door, her greeting to her adoptive parents wasn't as enthused as it usually was, but they hardly noticed.  _Murder. He likes that I think_ , She thought with a shake of her head while she made her way upstairs and to her room. That wasn't something she could work with exactly.

Throwing her bag and book on the bed, she got another idea.  _Sesshomaru likes history!_  Then she sighed,  _But he doesn't get_ _ **excited**_   _about it, he knows everything from the past 200 years._  She fumbled with getting her homework out on the desk, before she sat and tried to work on it, only for her mind to continue thinking about Sesshomaru.  _Maybe he can't smile. If he didn't feel things the same way, perhaps he can't express them the same way either…._  She wondered if she asked about, would he answer her?

Rin stared at the empty sheet in front of her that should have been filled out by now. She groaned in defeat, dropping head against the wooden desk. In a last-ditch effort, she grabbed her phone and opened the group chat that had Sango, Kagome, Shiori, and Shima.

"Let's say there's this older guy…" Rin decided as an opener. She should have known it was a terrible idea, but tiredness clouded her judgment.

"Kagome, you owe me a bento tomorrow," Was the first response from Sango.  _What's that supposed to mean?!_

"No Rin! How could you?!" Kagome's answer made her blush. She didn't  _do_  anything!

"Ooh. An older gentleman? Do tell!" Shima responded. She could just imagine her giggling and getting settled in a seat all giddy.

"He's a friend!"

"How old is he?" Kagome asked.

Rin had no idea about his exact age, so she went by his appearance. "20."  _-ish? Maybe? It's better than saying over 200 or whatever his age is._

"A pervert." Came Sango's immediate reply.

"Oh, he's not old," Shima replied. It didn't help her that the one who was dating an older guy was defending her.

"He's a friend," Rin repeated. It fell on deaf ears or, rather, blind eyes. As the three continued bickering in the chat, she went to turn off her notifications when Shiori sent her a private message.

"What's going on?" She asked her hanyou friend if monsters could smile, laugh, and feel like they do and her response was a yes and no. "Father could fool anyone into thinking he was just human, especially after he fed from my Mom. He would always be smiling." The message read, "But she said he was MUCH more serious when she first met him." Rin could just hear Shiori's teasing voice as she read, "I don't think icicles can smile tho."

"Don't be mean! :("

After exchanging a couple of more messages, Rin put her phone on silence when she agreed to meet Shiori at her house after school tomorrow. Her gaze traveled to the window, the sky colored in shades of orange, pink, and purple. She smiled, with Shiori's words in mind, a plan to try something with Sesshomaru, and sundown's approach gave her a bit more energy. She didn't want just to fall asleep the second he got here! She rolled her sleeves up and began writing.

"Rin." She fell out of her seat, and Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow at her clumsiness.

"What? When…?" The clock read 10:05 PM. She fell asleep and didn't do more than a third of her homework. "I'm so screwed." She groaned, her face in her hands as she accepted her fate.

"Neglecting your studies, I see."  _And_  she was going to get scolded by him? Rin peeked at him through her fingers and her breath caught in her throat. Did she mention her love-hate relationship when he wore modern clothing? While it generally made his missing limb more obvious - not that she cared - it also made other things more obvious, like his broad shoulders, trim waist - "Rin."

_Oh_ _ **no**_. And now she was busted for staring at hot guys the second time today. She quickly got up from the floor and adjusted her clothing. "Sorry. I just zoned out a bit there… again."

He frowned, "You have not been sleeping."

Rin sighed, before covering her face once more, "I look that bad, huh?"

"Hn."

Her hands dropped, and she half-heartedly scowled at him, "You weren't supposed to agree." Rin pouted when he simply raised an eyebrow, "I'll be back." She grumbled, slipping into her closet to change. She sighed in relief when she was in her simple tank and lounge pants, out of the constricting uniform-like clothing she wore to school.

When Rin stepped out of her closet, Sesshomaru had his back toward her as he flipped through the open textbook, his long silver hair in full view. Her fingertips itched to touch it,  _just a little bit!_  Knowing it wouldn't work, she snuck closer to him -  _he can totally hear me_  - and reached out to grab a small lock -

And it slipped through her fingers like silk, exactly as she imagined.

_WHAT!?_ Rin was frozen in place and saw Sesshomaru's back tense. His head turned to look at her, his lips parted and eyes wide. She brought her out-stretched hand to her chest, covering it with the other. "S-sorry. I didn't think…"

"You  _touched_  me." He fully turned to face her.

_Oh god, was that wrong_? "I didn't mean to-"

"Again."

"Huh?" He knew that she heard him and Rin knew he wasn't going to repeat himself. She swallowed, eyes darting everywhere on him, "Where do I…?"

"It doesn't matter."

She chewed on her bottom lip as she brought her hand back up. Rin didn't know when,  _if ever_ , she would get this opportunity again, so she went after the second-most want to touch - his stripes! Her hand trembled a bit in spite of her but when it rested against his cheek, her nervousness was forgotten, and her thumb caressed the bright marking with care.

_He isn't warm…_  She thought. He wasn't super cold either but the discovery still surprised her. Regardless, the texture of his alabaster skin felt soft and perfect, just as it looked. The moment was short-lived as soon his edge fizzled and her hand phased through him as usual. Rin frowned, her hand dropping back to her side. She met his eyes, but couldn't decipher the look he was giving her.

Rin shrugged, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. "I guess it was just 'a glitch in the matrix' or something…"

Sesshomaru said nothing to her. Rin tried to read his face but aside from a slight furrow in his brow, he gave nothing more away.  _He must be thinking hard about something._  She remembered her mission to make him smile and wondered if she should just abort it now. It was best to stay silent until he spoke again. She moved around him to sit at her desk, bit back a yawn, and tried to start working on her homework again.

"Do you need assistance?"

Rin smiled at him, "That would be wonderful."

An hour in and she was losing the fight against her heavy eyelids. She would have face planted on the desk if Sesshomaru hadn't raised his voice just a bit to ask: "Why haven't you been sleeping?"

"This scary thing…" She yawned, "Tried coming out Sango's closet. I haven't been able to sleep well since." Rin finished with the hardest part of her homework, the last of it could wait until morning. She closed her book and looked up at the man next to her, leaning against her desk, "It had tentacles and something like poison gas, but then it just disappeared in a pink light like it was never there."

"Have you seen it again?"

"No, but I was worried because…" Her hand went to her throat as she stood up, remembering the burning sensation that persisted until Sunday morning, "It hurt, the gas, and burned for hours. It shouldn't have… right?"

"No, unless you believed it would." Rin let his words simmer while she turned off the desk light and walked to her bed. She tried to believe it couldn't touch her but she was terrified. Fear gripped her and she couldn't will it away.  _What was it going to do? Eat me?_  When she slipped her legs under her covers and relaxed her back against the headboard, she remembered her conversation on the train earlier.

" _Not in the way you think."_

"Can I ask you something?" He inclined his head as an invitation for her to continue. "Could you do what that incubus did?" When his eyes widened to the largest she'd ever seen them, she realized she had done a  **disastrous**  job at phrasing her question. Red-faced, she immediately started correcting herself, "I don't mean if you could do it now! I just meant are you  _able_  to do it?" That didn't change anything. "I mean, is that how  _you_  eat people? Their desires?"

Rin watched him relax, and let go of an exhale that  _almost_  sounded like a chuckle before replying, "When I was around the equivalent to your age, I did. Not often."

"Then what do you prefer?"

"Fear."

"Oh."  _Duh, Rin. What else?_  "How does that work?"

"Scare the human and absorb the emotion."

"How do you do  _that_? Does it kill the person?"

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes, "No. Why the sudden curiosity?"

"I was just wondering," Rin replied, rubbing a lock of her hair between her fingertips.  _It's not literally eating even if it is fear. That doesn't seem too dangerous then… but there has to be something else to it if he doesn't want me to talk to other monsters, right?_

"What is your real question?"

She sighed, dropping her hands to her lap. "Would you ever eat me? I don't think you would."

"A monster would gain a good amount of power from you."

"I heard you're already pretty powerful."

"I always strive for more."

Rin pouted, "I probably don't taste good anyway."

"Hn."

Her eyebrow twitched, but she ignored his teasing, "Why fear? Why not something nice? Like happiness?"

"It is far more difficult and time-consuming to keep a fickle human happy than it is to frighten them."

"Well, you keep me happy. Have you ever tried?"

"... No…" It was the first time she heard him speak with anything less than complete confidence.

She wondered why "Then try!"

He broke eye contact, "No."

Rin frowned, "Why?"

"Happiness cannot be fed from."

"You just said you never tried."

"Why are you offering yourself to me?"

If Rin weren't so adamant about this, she would have blushed at his wording, "If you can, then you don't have to keep going around scaring people, right?" She began biting her lip when he just stared at her.

"No." He rose from the chair, and Rin knew she pushed too hard, but she had to do this!

"Wait -" When she grabbed his hand, he was solid again, and she held it tightly. "Why not?"

His lips pulled back, in a still voice, he asked, "What happened to your previous guardians?"

"They went crazy." She replied quietly, she squeezed the cold hand harder, ignoring when a claw nicked her skin, "I'm not them."

" _Precisely_. Release me."

"No, this isn't the same!"

Sesshomaru growled - he  _never_  growled at her, "I will not repeat myself."

"Neither will I." Her voice wasn't as steady as she wished.

"Why are you persistent?"

"Because Shiori told me that her father would feed off her mom and it made him happy. I just thought…" She trailed off, embarrassment finally catching up with her as her face heated up. "You've done so much for me. I thought I could do this for you."

Thankfully, her friend didn't push away again. He glanced at his captured hand, "You're bleeding." She slowly let go of, and he turned to face her. "Get up." Rin jumped up from the bed and stood in front of him, listening carefully. "I will not force myself in."

"Okay." She replied, despite not understanding what he meant. Then she felt the prickling sensation around her neck and scalp, "You've done this before."

"Whatever you feel is the equivalent of knocking the door. You have to open it."

_Open the door? Okay…_  After a few minutes of nothing happening and her fumbling around in her head for an answer, Rin blurted out, "I have no idea what to do."

"Then I cannot."

Rin rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes, "I got this! … But a hint would nice." She sulked when he stayed silent, but her lips soon pulled into a smile, "You have no idea either."

"I've never asked, only taken." His tone was odd, lower than usual.

"Hmm…" She tapped her index finger against her lips,  _How do I…?_  Rin shut her eyes, thinking that should help but it didn't, and she almost fell asleep while standing.

"Enough."

"B-but!"

"You are exhausted."

Rin sighed because he wasn't wrong and it was already midnight, "Promise me we will try again?"

"Hn."

"That's not a yes." She sulked.

A tiny huff escaped him, "You have my word."

:-:-:

Sesshomaru returned to his realm a few minutes before sunrise. He was making his way to his study, far too lost in thoughts - to the point that he had literally bumped into his father outside his room. Sesshomaru stepped back, "Is something wrong, father?" It was unlike him to be waiting for him.

"I should be asking you." Touga crossed his arms into his sleeves, "You are never so distracted."

"It won't happen again."

His sire sighed, "That's not what I want to hear. What is weighing on you so heavily, my son?"

Sesshomaru often found the many questions sprouted from his visits to Rin on the tip of his tongue - but he would remember the countless of times his Lord Father put the first over the latter and abort the question, as he did now. "I will deal with it."

"I don't doubt you will, but you don't have to alone. I am here if you need me, you know that?"

"...Perhaps another time."

Twin golden eyes darkened in understanding, "Very well. Don't think I've forgotten to meet that girlfriend of yours."

Sesshomaru was tired of his father's baseless teasing, "We are not romantically entangled."

"Hmm." Touga's gaze drifted from his eyes to the side of his face - the side she touched - as if with purpose.  _...Did I carry her scent here?_  He hadn't thought it would be possible. As the real sun caused everything youkai to disappear, the fake star in their realm eliminates any trace of what shouldn't be here. When he saw the corners of his father's eyes crinkle with a hint of mischief, he mentally cursed. "I won't bother asking  _how_ … I'm far too curious as to  _why_  you allowed it."

"This Sesshomaru does not need to explain himself to you." He finished with a glare, his speech pattern slipping into old habits. He stepped around his father and opted to leave the castle grounds instead. He didn't need his father baiting him while he was trying to understand himself. He shouldn't have allowed it. He should have told her no.

Her intentions were pure, just innocent curiosity.  _She didn't mean to offend or overstep_ , he reasoned. He was one who told her it didn't matter. Despite that, he still felt the warmth of her hand, fingers tracing his stripes with such care as if she knew the significance of her actions. Flying alone and now far from the castle, Sesshomaru brought his hand to his face and noted even the scent of her blood still lingered despite having cleaned it off earlier.

" _Well, you keep me happy."_

_Ridiculous._

" _I thought I could do this for you."_

_Absurd._

" _Promise me we will try again?"_

_Reckless..._

He felt the corner of his lips twitch, the makings of a small smile hidden behind his hand,  _Foolish woman._

**End of Chapter 6**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If ya'll don't remember, Shima is the 12-year-old girl that Miroku proposed to at one point before he joined the group. And I totally thought she needed to be in their little friend group for now lol.
> 
> Hope everyone liked this chapter~!


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